Everything is Possible....

I first ran across Benjamin Zander at an event for senior leaders for my employer. The event, among the first in an annual series, was held, according to custom, at a smallish golf resort in central Florida, a site particularly preferred by our company president. Each year is themed, and we try very hard to present a different or unusual experience for the participants. At the meeting on the year in question, participants came into the resort ballroom for the opening session to encounter the entire Orlando Philharmonic arrayed about the room, appropriately for an orchestral performance. Seats were available to the new arrivals, scattered among the various sections and players. Some delighted, some bewildered, everyone found a seat.

Preliminaries accomplished, Maestro Zander raised his baton, and we were instantly surrounded by the cannonade of the opening passages of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony… DA DA DA DAAAAAAAAH, DA DA DA DAAAAAAH… I had heard the piece performed many time on recordings, and even once or twice live, but I had never heard such a thing as one experiences from among the players of the orchestra… it was a magnificent assault, not only on the ears and eyes, but upon every fiber of my body… sitting among the celli and the basses, I gained a whole new appreciation for “resonating” with the music!

For the next three hours, Ben Zander walked us, step by step, phrase and passage, through all four movements of Beethoven’s iconic piece, pausing, digressing, discussing, and cajoling along the way, sharing his insights into the music, the elements of the orchestra and the ways in which they interact to create ‘symphony’ (or possibly not!), all as one enormous metaphor for human existence, society, and harmony. This was indeed leadership of a caliber and order of which I had been heretofore essentially unaware. Those fortunate enough to attend this session, now some ten years ago, still talk about it… more significantly, they still exercise what they learned that day!

Over time, the glow of that Florida afternoon gradually dimmed, and although I too remembered the lessons, I thought of Zander only as a wonderful memory… a one-time experience. Then, several months ago, I had an opportunity to attend a ‘corporate training’ experience offered by one of our vendors, and low and behold, they used some video material from no less than Ben Zander… coaching and cajoling and leading and teaching and inspiring various young musicians. I was again delighted and captivated.

After the session, I rushed right off to the internet to see what resources might be available from Mr. Zander… the videos were available, but FAR too expensive, but it seemed there was this book… The Art of Possibility. Now recognize that Ben is a secular author in a secular business, firmly ensconced in a secular world… but also recognize that in some, even without awareness, there may be a spirit that transcends those secular boundaries. I believe it is so with the spirit of Benjamin Zander. Honestly, I really did find myself at times laughing out loud, and at times experiencing tears of joy as I thoroughly enjoyed my way through the pages and chapters of the work of Ben and his wife Rosamund. The book enlivened and renewed my perspective on my role as a leader and as a teacher… and with such a unique approach that I found the book a perfect solution to a perplexing problem…

The Beach boys graduated from High School last Saturday, and I was faced with the seasonal conundrum of providing each with an elegant, meaningful, and yet thought provoking gift… what to do… what to do. Remarkably, Ben and Rosamond’s book a beautiful treatise on a vibrant and vital approach to life, also follows a wonderful, indeed masterful musical metaphor throughout… in the case of the Beach’s, something for everyone. I’m hopeful they enjoy the work as much as I did… I kind of think of it as an extension course in World Views.

Over the few days since completing the book, I’ve also found at least two other significant and apt applications of the practices, and then Toph (Beach) went and mentioned the book, so I thought I’d plug it too! Also, Ben has a website with his journal in it, which makes for fun and interesting reading. Enjoy!

To Make Much of Time...

John Keating, in Peter Weir’s “Dead Poets Society,” begins his fateful year at “Hellton” by asking one of his students to, “open your hymnal to page 542 and read the first stanza of the poem you find there.” The student, the unfortunately named Mr. Pitts, reads… “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time?” Keating replies, “Yes, that's the one. Somewhat appropriate, isn't it?” Pitts goes on with the opening stanza of the poem:

Gather ye Rose-buds while ye may,
Old Time is still a flying:
And this same flower that smiles to day,
To morrow will be dying.

Keating launches into his famous “Carpe Diem” speech… urging the students to “seize the day” — advice that ultimately is his undoing. But let’s go back to the rosebuds… Symbols of life, youth, and vitality – borne of seeds.

In literature, and in life, we often encounter metaphoric seeds. In the Parable of the Sower, the Lord Jesus used seed as a metaphor for the Word, falling upon various ears.

In a recent post, Matt Jordan expounded on poor Holden Caulfield, who wanted to be a Catcher in the Rye… Holden’s misquote of Robert Burns’ Comin’ thro the Rye. Rye too, is an interesting seed… Apparently it is more tolerant of variable weather than wheat, and thrives in eastern and northern Europe… hardy and with a distinctive taste. Interesting that Burns, and consequently Salinger/Caulfield would choose this particular grain as a setting for meeting and for rescuing children… or perhaps one’s youth.

Matt speaks eloquently of his thoughts at his esteemed grandfather’s passing, and chooses to come close to him in a field on his grandfather’s farm in Virginia… a place where seeds can grow, and a place where one might reclaim fond memories of youth.

This is a season of passings. Many who read this are affiliated with school in one form or another… students, teachers, parents, and May-June is always a time of transition…. coming home from college… leaving home (after the summer) for college, kids coming home, kids being home… a break, a respite, a vacation… the death of the academic year past, the birth of an ephemeral freedom. The rye seed must die and be buried to give new birth as next year’s crop: fields in which the children will grow and flourish. Old, beloved sages pass away, leaving something of themselves for the next generation. That cycle, almost as old as time, sustains us, and offers hope that we can be more.

Perspective

In the last few weeks, I've had several experiences I found... meaningful. They lent me a sense of competence, and thus, perhaps some security. My Heavenly Father, in conversation, suggested my attitude, rather than feeling competent, or self-satisfied, might be...
profound gratitude. And in humility, I am satisfied.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5

Love Will Keep Us Together (Concluded)

Love is… a relationship, a feeling, a disposition. Interesting nouns to be sure, yet somehow still… less than satisfying in connotation, in richness, in character. Though seeking an essential definition, simple, sterile concepts fail to do justice to this idea – perhaps a primal element of our existence.

I’m particularly drawn to the idea of a bond… not a note that earns interest (although there may indeed be some interesting parallels… hmmm), nor a “binding agreement” under which one agrees to perform a specified act (like showing up for a court appearance… again, though, the potential for some relevant parallels…. Hmmm again!). No, I’m thinking of a bond like in chemistry, between atoms in a molecule… like a covalent bond… a bond that represents a force joining two entities…. not though, a physical connection, with a specific device or mechanism actually touching and connecting the elements, but some sort of attraction or force-like mechanism… a bond. The best analogy I can come up with is gravity… a force between two entities, proportional to their mass, and inversely proportional to the distance between them; gravity is a bond that, although we can express the force exerted on the two bodies, we really can’t describe the bond… other than to say that this attractive force exerted on the bodies can indeed be characterized as a bond. I propose that love is, in essence a kind of bond… a force, kind of like gravity, that draws to bodies, two personalities, two entities together.

From Oswald Chambers, the idea that love is elective is, I think also essential. In earlier posts and discussions, we’ve talked about the idea that God gave us free will in order to choose to love Him. It would seem that a key part of love is the fact that it must be chosen.

Now here is where I depart from Oxford and the secular authorities. It’s an easy leap to make, after the post and discussion regarding “Mongo Theology” and the roll of emotion and intellect in our relationship with God. In the first post in this series, I concluded (to be redundant) that …

“we are continually and unceasingly to “love the Lord our God with all of our… 'heart, mind, strength, soul, passion, emotion… aggregated and interchangeable or not… in intimate partnership with Him, as the tapestries of our lives unfold.'”

Amongst the Christ-following community, there is consensus that we were indeed created to love God. God is a transcendent being, He exceeds, surpasses, and overflows the boundaries imposed by our finite minds. I believe, therefore, that since ”God is Love,” that love itself must have the transcendent nature of God.

The definition of love I would offer then is:

“Love is the elective bond that defines and characterizes our relationship with God and in God.”

Love, like gravity, binds us to God, and in the nature of that relationship, binds us to one another (in and through Him). An obvious conclusion here is that love cannot exist independent of God…. there may be affection, lust, desire… but love can only exist in a relationship founded in God.

Love Will Keep Us Together (Part 2)

In seeking definition, one often looks to others, or to an authoritative source. My favorite source for definition is the Oxford English Dictionary, a fine and weighty tome. Oxford’s first definition of love describes it as a “disposition or state of feeling,” based on, or arising from the “recognition of attractive qualities.” This is a worthwhile start, because the definition does not simply list characteristic behaviors or manifestations that are the result of love; we’re actually making a stab here at really saying what this thing called love IS. Oxford (remarkably enough!) falls short in that I believe love goes beyond simple attraction. As I intend to explore later, I believe there truly is a transcendence in love… but that’s later.

At my wife’s suggestion, I investigated a somewhat less secular, yet no less authoritative source, the Works of Oswald Chambers. In his discussion in “The Love of God,” (December 14, 1916), he offers this definition:

“Love is the sovereign preference of my person for another person, embracing everyone and everything in that preference.”

Mr. Chambers includes the concept of preference or choice as a component of love, and notes the completely inclusive, comprehensive nature of love as a relationship. So for him, love is a chosen and comprehensive relationship. It is an easy jump to 1 Corinthians 13 to examine the nature and characteristics of this relationship, however, my sense is that this serves to exemplify, rather than to describe the relationship itself. Splitting semantic hairs? Perhaps, but I can’t be comfortable with patience, kindness, gentleness as synonyms for love… they tel me about love, but not what it is.

To Be Continued…